


The Odd Couple

by boundxdoll



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Arguing, Bus, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 19:00:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1315759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boundxdoll/pseuds/boundxdoll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey and Ian are getting the hell out of South Side. They're leaving on a greyhound to all points east coast. They didn't realize what being confined to such a small space would do to them, and how it would make them bicker like an old married couple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Odd Couple

They were going, gone making a run for it, selfishly fleeing to anywhere but there.

The seats rumbled a little as the Greyhound bus made it's way down the interstate heading east. It had taken some arguing but they decided New York was the option for them. It was far and full of opportunity, nobody would find them there.

"Mickey let me sit on the outside my legs are cramping up." Ian grumbled to the other, shifting in his seat to try and get comfortable.

"At the next stop man, I asked if you wanted the aisle seat and you said no." Mickey who hadn't slept two days prior to leaving replied in a grumpy tone.

"Ugh, fuck you're such a dick." The redhead hissed elbowing Mickey lightly.

"Put your fuckin' legs across my lap and stop being a bitch." The dark haired male ordered. He didn't care about the people around him staring it was none of their business but it must have been hard to determine the exact relationship between these two. They most certainly didn't act like a couple most of the time. 

They were however, _together_.

"I'm not acting like a bitch." Ian said despite himself as he shifted and stretched out across Mickey's lap. He then reached onto the floorboard grabbing their bag of snacks and passing Mickey a pack of Oreos. "You should eat something and try to get some sleep we still have a day and a half of this.” The redhead murmured as his eyes drifted shut.

“I’ll eat when I want to fucking eat,” Mickey answered flatly, taking the oreos though and opening the package, running his fingers along a row of cookies and picking one up that looked the most stuffed with cream. He ate the cookie glancing over to see the smirk on Ian’s face and rolling his eyes because that smirk made it perfectly clear the redhead had won.  
  
\--------------  
  
Neither of them slept very long, there was no comfortable way for them to sit, leaning on each other was pretty much out of the question. It seemed like every waking moment had been spent arguing over something, bickering to the point where they'd be silent for an hour or so. The looks they got were priceless, people didn't know what to make of them. Sometimes it seemed like they were a couple, the way they looked at each other, but then they were fighting again. It was a mix between the cramped space and their nerves. On top of that Mickey was exposed to public he didn't know, it wasn't some gay club where he knew everybody was alright to be open in front of.

"Why the fuck are we even doing this? We haven't gotten along since we left South Side." Ian spoke sharply as he looked to the other male whose attention was focused out the window.

"What the fuck are you trying to say, Ian?" Mickey's voice cracked, he was tired, thirsty and they were thirty miles from their next stop.

"I don't know what I'm trying to say. We're just not getting along, we can barely talk without fighting. I think next stop I'm going to sit in another seat." Ian confessed, looking away from Mickey now before he changed his mind.

"Do whatever the fuck you want, Gallagher. You wanna sit somewhere else sit somewhere else nobody is stopping you." He was hurt though, and his tone gave that away.

"Maybe it will stop this--" Ian motioned between the two of them, "from happening." Ian didn't want for them to be fighting he wanted for them to finally start being able to enjoy the rest of the ride.

Mickey shook his head before leaning it against the glass to watch the scenery whiz past them, closer and closer to the next stop. "Yeah whatever, I said do what you gotta do," the dark haired boy answered after a moment of silence.

It was silent again between them, so when the bus rolled into a stop Ian gathered his half of the stuff and moved to an empty row of seats, and dropping his stuff there before exiting the bus for the short allotted time.

Mickey had watched him move seats much to his dismay, the hurt was written on his face. He needed a cigarette before he went ballistic stuffing his stuff onto the seats he moved out into the aisle and that was when he felt the gentle tap on his shoulder. Turning his head to look over his shoulder and then down to a short elderly woman. "Uh yeah, can I uh help you...ma'am?" The young man asked in a softer tone than his usual one?

"You two are going to be just fine, just you wait and see." She smiled brightly patting his back in a soothing way Mickey has never felt.

"Yeah I hope so." Mickey replied reluctantly, but there was no use getting mad at an old woman when Ian and him were practically waving flags that screamed they were a couple.

"You will," She reassured before taking her seat again. "Now go enjoy your cigarette." The eerie old woman finished.

"Yeah, thanks." Mickey muttered as he headed off the bus. The woman was strange but only to a man who was never talked to like that.

After the smoke break and they split up the supplies they bought they also split their separate ways heading towards their new seating arrangement. Hours passed before Mickey's phone buzzed in his pocket, a text from Ian.

"It's really lonely up here :/ "  
"Yea kinda lonely here 2"  
"I'm sorry 4 bein a jackass"  
"Me 2"  
"Can i come back and sit w/you?"  
"Yea id like that"

Ian had slid his phone away and grabbed his stuff before moving back to the seat with Mickey. Taking the other male's hand he rested his cheek on Mickey's shoulder. It was the only way the two of them could sleep comfortably, touching each other, the closeness, the warmth they both gave off when the air was chilly.

They'd be fine for a little while, but better when they got to New York.  
  
\--------------------------------  
  
They were finally a state away. Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and they had an hour layover to stretch their legs. Both of them sitting outside at the designated smoking area with their luggage at their feet. Mickey was leaning with his elbows on his knees, flicking ash to the ground. Ian was pacing around getting the feeling back in his legs, working the muscles and making them ache less.

"We're almost there, about ten more hours we'll be at Grand Central Station." Ian spoke after several minutes of silence.

"Yeah uh the schedule thing says something about a few more stops too, and an hour layover in Syracuse." Mickey answered, not looking up from his cigarette.

"You're not still mad at me are you?" Ian asked cautiously, moving to sit beside Mickey.

"What the fuck do you think?" Mickey countered looking over beside him to the redhead.

"I think that it was a state ago, and you're holding a pretty long grudge over it." His voice softened for a moment as he looked down to his feet.

"Just forget it, nothing happened alright?" The dark haired male sighed softly taking a drag from his cigarette.

"I can't forget it if you're gonna keep being pissed at me!" Ian's entire demeanor changing to him being on the defense.

"Look, it's done, it's over with, let's just move on alright? I'm fuckin' over it." Mickey just wanted to move past it now, he didn't want anymore arguments, they were almost there and then they wouldn't need to be cramped together without anywhere to go. They could be together without being on top of each other.

"Yeah, alright fine, I just want to stop fighting." Ian whispered, gently reaching and taking Mickey's hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Me too. We're almost there." Mickey assured him squeezing Ian's hand gently.

"Then we can start the rest of our lives, and not have to worry about anything except taking care of each other." His words were so sincere, so solid and he meant them. The fact he was on medication was helping his moods stay stable, if they weren't this would have been a trip from hell more so than it already was.  
"We did the moment we left." Mickey remarked taking another drag before snuffing out the cancer stick.  
  
\---------------------  
  
The rest of the ride didn't go very smoothly but no matter how much they fought they always wound up holding each other's hand, or laying their head on one another's shoulder. It was confusing for everyone else, but to them? It was love. Their own special, crazy brand of love.

By the time they got to New York, most of their issues were resolved, and their opportunities were laid before them. It wasn’t hard to get into a shitty one bedroom apartment, or for Ian to get a job right away. It was going to be a struggle, and they’d probably fight everyday, but it was theirs.


End file.
